Dubai: A manager has been accused of trespassing into the villa of his tenant — a stewardess — and assaulting and molesting her.
The British stewardess was said to have rented the villa from the wife of the Romanian manager, J.M., 30
According to records, an Iraqi man who shared the first floor of the villa in Mirdif with the Briton went down from his room upon hearing the commotion and saw J.M. at the door partially dressed.
Prosecutors accused J.M. of trespassing, molesting and assaulting the stewardess and threatening her mother.
The suspect pleaded not guilty when he appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Sunday.
Prosecutors said the suspect groped the Briton and caused her a shoulder injury when he pushed her and she fell to the ground during the incident in March.
The suspect is also accused of entering the villa without the woman’s permission and threatening to break her mother’s leg when she tried to stop him from harming her daughter.
“I did not touch her and I did not assault her,” J.M. maintained when he faced presiding judge Fahd Al Shamsi.
The Briton told prosecutors that her mother was on a visit to Dubai and staying with her at the time the incident took place.
“I rented the ground and upper floors from the suspect’s wife and dealt with her the first two months; then he started showing up at my gate and dealing with me. He constantly stayed at the doorstep and discussed maintenance issues with me. A month prior to the incident, he started stalking me and tried to befriend me; he constantly praised my beauty and he once invited me over to stay at a private flat that he said he owned.
“On that day, he came and knocked the door. When I answered the door, he stood there only wearing a pair of shorts … and there [were] two companions with him. Suddenly he hugged me and groped my top and said ‘I miss you’ twice. He seemed sober … he intended to molest me because he had been verbally stalking me lately.
“I pushed him away from me. When he pushed me back, I fell down on the ground, injured my shoulder. When I asked him to leave the villa, he shouted back saying ‘I will kick you out’. Then my Iraqi neighbour came down and spoke to the suspect, who left with his companions. J.M. had never asked me to evacuate the villa,” the stewardess told prosecutors.
Her mother testified before prosecutors that the suspect asked her to remain silent and threatened to break her leg when she tried to protect her daughter.
During Sunday’s trial, the suspect trashed the Briton’s claims and contended before presiding judge Al Shamsi: “That is a lie: I went to the villa to ask them to leave.”
A ruling will be heard on July 24.
